Help analyzing break out analysis results!

[Shakethatcas]

Hi! I’ve been snooping this site over the past year of me incubating. I’ve always found what I’m looking for but this time I can’t and I want advice to further improve my hatching process!

I set 16 Ermine Ameraucana Eggs from a local reputable breeder on 12/22. Baseline incubator humidity was 40% with no water. I ran this percentage for the first 15 days. Day 16 it dropped to 30%. Fully closing the vent didn’t help so I added a tablespoon of water. This jumped it up to 70%. I burped the incubator a few times over the next few hours and got it to drop to 60% but then I couldn’t get it lower than that. Vent open - water removed. I was at day 17 at this point so I decided to let that ride since we were so close to lockdown. I added 1/2 tbsp water at lockdown and it stayed 65% through the hatch. My machine is accurate and I have a secondary sensor in there that connects to my phone with an alarm.

I had 7 healthy hatches with 3 assisted ones after watching them struggle for 48 hours. All 3 had super thick membranes - I couldn’t tear with my nails and had to use tiny scissors. 2 are fine and romping about with the others. The 3rd only survived 24 hours. It had splay legs and cross beak. I was able to feed it mash from a spoon so I know it was eating. I suspect it had something not visible wrong with it or vitamin deficiency.

On day 24 I had 6 eggs remaining with no signs of pips so I removed to candle - no movement. 2 showed they didn’t develop further after being moved to lockdown. I performed break out analysis on the remaining 4. 2 had obvious deformities. The other 2 looked like they should have hatched, yolk and digestive tract was absorbed. 1 of those had a foul smell. None of them internally pipped, all of them had crooked air cells, egg looked more porous than the hatched ones, and excessive fluid.

I don’t think they drowned since my humidity wasn’t outrageous and they did NOT internally pip to drown. But they all had excessive fluid. Even the 2 that fully developed - I had to dump more fluid out of than any others I’ve checked. So what might have caused this?

Things I’m doing next hatch to further refine - marking egg cells as they develop with a pencil, checking egg temp not just monitoring incubator temp, and weighing eggs to calculate weight loss to see what’s up with this excessive fluid.

I’m also looking into moving the viable eggs into the brooder at lockdown so they can hatch in the brooder. I’m able to keep temp and humidity up in there and it’s made with a clear window on the front of it so I can watch them better. Any tips or tricks from someone that’s tried this?

Thanks everyone! I appreciate it!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

I doubt your humidity variances had too much to do with it. I would try a different breeder's eggs next time, just to see as parent health/genetics can play a part in our hatch rates.

I've never heard of hatching in a brooder, but that kind of eliminates the step of moving them, and you can then turn the temp down to 95F once they all hatch.

The only thing is that it's a considerably bigger door, I presume, so opening it while any are pipped could quickly shrink-wrap them. The couple you had with very thick membranes, I suspect, may have started to shrink-wrap, as I've seen that before.

 

[Shakethatcas]

Hi,

I doubt your humidity variances had too much to do with it. I would try a different breeder's eggs next time, just to see as parent health/genetics can play a part in our hatch rates.

I've never heard of hatching in a brooder, but that kind of eliminates the step of moving them, and you can then turn the temp down to 95F once they all hatch.

The only thing is that it's a considerably bigger door, I presume, so opening it while any are pipped could quickly shrink-wrap them. The couple you had with very thick membranes, I suspect, may have started to shrink-wrap, as I've seen that before.

I just got a new brooder setup that has a design I think would work for it! It looks like a huge bread box with a built in lamp with a dial. All the way up I can get over 100 degrees and the access door on the top is very tiny and flips up. It’s really only big enough to get the water and food container in. The whole front is clear and the flip up lid so I’ll be able to see how they’re doing better. It’s also made from wood and holding temp better than the plastic ones I used in the past. I have another sensor in there and a camera that also monitors temp.

I did a test run with the vents covered and a small container of water in there and was able to sustain temp and hatching level humidity! Even opening the door to simulate if I grab a struggling egg - the humidity didn’t drop much. I’m just scared to try it for the first time lol. Maybe I’ll run some of my own Ayam eggs to test it next, I just didn’t want to compromise my Ermines!

They did start to shrink wrap! even though I never opened the lid! I cut a window in the insulation and put it back when I’m done looking so I can monitor how long they’ve struggled before jumping in. The one with cross beak and splay legs was shrink wrapped right over its face but the other 2 were stuck to their backs. I tried a dry assist for the first time and just pulled and cut away what I could and left the rest. After they fully dried I was able to crumble away the pieces so they’re fluffy now but missing some down where they were super stuck. This is my first time having an assist last more than 24 hours let alone 2 of them!